steve hartman, on the road in matawan, new jersey. >>> and that's the "cbs evening news" for tonight. for all of us at cbs news, all around the world, good night. >>> good evening. i'm elizabeth cook. >> i'm alan martin. right now, the san francisco 49ers are on their way to atlanta for sunday's nfc championship game against the falcons. they boarded a delta air lines charter jet late this afternoon in san jose after one last workout at their facility. one player almost missed the bus, literally. >> reporter: that's right. this is a big game, a big stadium going up behind me in santa clara and almost a big mistake by the team, apparently not noticing that their star receiver was not on the bus. funny thing happened on the way to atlanta. a caravan of niners team buses were lining up, leaving for the airport. a few fans were on hand to give the team a send-off. then the caravan put on the brakes to take on one late- arriving passenger. it was star receiver michael crabtree, might need him on sunday, but the team almost left without him. >> feels like our team is determined, focused, re